Hiya, can you tell me what a good academic fit is for you? What criteria? I need some ideas. Also, when you pick the “best” college, what does “best” mean for you?
Academic fit would be that it has good academic offerings in the area(s) that you are interested in studying.
If you are undecided or likely to change your major, then you also want to consider whether any of the majors you could be interested in are restricted or competitive admission after enrolling at the school.
Academic program offerings would be one of the most important factors (especially if you’re fairly sure you want a major that isn’t available everywhere.)
In addition, you might want to consider:
- average class sizes (especially in the courses that most interest you)
- the level of student-faculty engagement
- average workload (reading assignments, papers, etc.)
- availability of undergraduate research projects/jobs
- thesis requirements
- distribution requirements; open vs. core curriculum
- quality of labs, libraries, and other facilities
- number/percentage of students majoring in your interest area(s), or in liberal arts v. engineering v. business
- percentage of students who enter graduate and professional schools
- “learning for learning’s sake” vs. career-focused, pre-professional atmosphere
- percentage of commuting students
- admission selectivity
Some of these factors are more or less specific to divisions, majors, or even individual courses.
Nevertheless, some colleges do seem (at least by reputation) to have a prevailing academic atmosphere.
Even a student in a widely available major probably would not be equally content at Caltech, Sarah Lawrence College, Syracuse, UChicago, UNLV, and the Naval Academy (although some people could adapt well to 2 or more of them, and not all people are equally sensitive to “fit” issues.)